What happened after Iraq?
by MarenMary93
Summary: Barbie left the army on an honorary discharge. Here is a story about what happened after the attack that left him wounded. Rated T due to language, Hurt!Barbie
1. Waking up

**I think there is a lack of UtD fanfictions at the moment, so I decided that I should start writing some...**

**This one is centered around Dale "Barbie" Barbara, when he served in Iraq. I decided to write a fic about what made him quit the army. **

**I suppose there'll be more suffering in later chapters, than in the first two ones...**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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"Captain Barbara!" a male voice said as Barbie startled awake. "Captain Barbara! Stay still!"

Barbie tried to focus enough to see who were talking to him. He didn't really understand what the man was saying either, but he heard his own surname. He tried to move, but was suddenly hit by a bolt of pain arising from his right leg.

"Dale! You are at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital! And right now I need you to stay still!" The same voice told him, but Barbie only caught a few words of it. Now Barbie could see him. It was a man wearing a surgeon gown. He was also wearing a mask, so all Barbie could see of the man's face was the area around his eyes.

It was first then that Barbie realized that something covering his own mouth and nose, so he brought an arm up to remove it.

"Your team were caught in an attack by the Iraqi side. You have suffered a GSW to your leg, and your knee has also suffered a major trauma." The doctor said as he helped Barbie remove his mask once he realized that his patient tried to say something.

"It's 'Barbie'" Barbie said once the mask that were strapped onto him was removed. Then he passed out once again

Hours later he woke up in a post-op zone. Everything wasn't quite as hazy as when he had woken up the last time, but it was still a bit blurred. His right leg started throbbing as he became more and more awake. After a few minutes it had built up to being straight up painful.

He decided he wanted to see the cause of the pain and removed the blanket that was draped over him. He had a hard time understanding what he saw when he did. His leg was covered in gauze, and inside a freaky-looking frame. He guessed the frame's purpose was to lock his leg, and keep whatever was wrong with it immobilized. But the look of the metal frame holding his leg together was terrifying!

He only remembered bits and pieces of the last two days, and they all seemed to blend together.

"You're awake Barbie?" Barbie recognized the voice. It was one of the voices that had been in the background when he first woke up here, but he also recognized it from his hometown in Kansas.

"Henry?" Barbie barely managed to croak out. Oh my God! His throat was dry.

"Yeah… It's me… Do you remember what the other doctor told you before your surgery?"

Barbie shook his head. He remembered being spoken to, but that was it.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Iraq, last time I checked…" Barbie managed to say before he started coughing.

"That's right" the Dr. Henry Winchester said as he poured up a glass of water for Barbie. "You're in Iraq. Right now you're at one of America's portable hospitals. Your team was attacked by a group from the Iraqi side, you have a GSW, a gunshot wound, approximately five inches below your knee. And your knee has a lot of damage to it too."

Barbie took the glass offered and took a sip of it. He was sure there were no better feeling in the world than drinking water when your throat was so dry that it ached.

"How's the rest of the team?" he then asked. He was worried about his teammates. He was one of the two highest ranking in his platoon, so he felt everything that could have happened was his responsibility.

"You took the worst of it…" the doctor answered him, like if he knew what Barbie was thinking. "there were two more that was brought in here, one with a simple fracture to his lower leg. The other one had a compound fracture to his arm, and a grace wound to his side. They're both at the canteen."

"Good…" Barbie nodded, before he started worrying about who else was hurt. "Who are the two others that got hurt?"

"Let me see…" The doctor flipped through his sheets and found what he was looking for. "The one with the arm injury is Lieutenant B. Olsen, and the one with the leg injury is Corporal J. Young…"

"Okey… And they're gonna be fine…?"

"They are better off than you are, that's for sure…" Henry gave him a blink of an eye and placed himself on the bed next to Barbie's. "Sooo… You want to tell me why my best friend still has, what I think is, a record-holding tendency to get into major problems like this?"

Barbie gave a short laugh. He had expected something like this from his best friend, once he met him in this situation. Barbie had as Henry put it 'a record-holding tendency to get into major problems', while Henry on the other hand usually tried to help Barbie out of them when they occurred.

"I don't know…" he answered after a few seconds, "I've just always thought of it as fun I guess…"

They both laughed at that one, at least until Barbie moved his leg by accident.

"OW! FUCK!" He grabbed a hold of the metal railing on his bed as he tried to steady himself, but the pain flaring from his leg overran just about everything. In the meanwhile, Henry had jumped to his feet and tried to hold Barbie's leg in a still position, he tried to hold it still against the tremors that ran through Barbie's body due to the sheer amount of pain.

After about a minute, when the pain had died down to a dull, throbbing ache and Henry decided to release his grip of the brace around his best friend's leg, Barbie laid back in his bed.

"How long is it going to be like this?" Barbie asked and gestured briefly towards his injured leg, as a tear threatened to escape from the corner of his eye. He swiped the tear away before it had a real chance to fall. Henry could hear the despair in Barbie's voice. It hurt him to know that his best friend, the one that never even seemed to be able to think of consequences. The one that never seemed to know how to back down or chicken out. The one who was always sure that things eventually would go his way… It hurt Henry to know that this man, at this moment couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Honestly…" Henry stood up and wiped away a tear of his own, before he tried to give Barbie a reassuring pat on the shoulder "I don't know…"

"What does that mean?" He could feel his gut hit the floor. He hated when Henry didn't know… Because that either meant really bad news, or it meant that it was all depending on luck, which also meant pretty bad news as far as he was concerned.

"Well, Ace… That means…" He paused a brief moment to decide how he was going to explain this, "That means that I don't know _when_ the pain is going to stop… I wish I could tell you something else, but it all depends on how your leg heals after the trauma and the surgery…"

"I will be walking again...? Right?"

"Looks like it... But I can't promise anything about how well you will walk, or how much pain you'll be in when you do… But for the first four months you're NOT ALLOWED to walk, for the first two-three you're not even allowed to put weight on that leg!" Henry knew this would only go one way from this point on. Making Barbie doubt something could be done, always ended with him proving that it could be done just fine… Even if it meant he risked a couple of months in cast… He had witnessed that more than once, and it might have been what set Henry on the track to become a doctor…

"Just watch me! I'll be walking as soon as I am allowed to!" There was that good old Barbie attitude that Henry knew they both needed right now. He knew that somehow Barbie would be okey.

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**Okey, that was the first chapter... Let me know what you think!  
I love to get feedback, good or bad! Whatever that can make me better!**

**Question:**

**Would you like there to be more UtD fanfics?**

**What genre do you enjoy reading the most?**

**Why not write some yourself?**


	2. Going home

**Second chapter...  
Thanks to those who actually have read this far!**

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Barbie wrestled his crutches as he got closer to the canteen, his leg throbbed like crazy when he sat still, but now when he was moving it was just out of this world. _Never thought I'd even think this, but it's been too long since the last time I had to use crutches…_ he thought as he slowly made his way across the open space between the sleeping hall and the canteen.

Once he was inside he saw Henry sitting at a table drinking a cup of joe, that probably tasted more like waste oil than coffee. There was an extra tray at his table that hadn't been touched yet, and Henry gestured for him to sit down at that spot.

"Brought your breakfast over here for you, I was tired of seeing you trying to balance a tray at the same time that you're trying to balancing yourself" Henry said with a smirk.

"I bet…" Barbie said and mirrored the smirk.

"Anyhow… Today is the day right?" Henry asked, looking into the grim cup of what passed as coffee around these parts "You're going home right…?"

"Today's the day!"

They looked at each other for a short moment, the place they were in right now was hell on earth, but that didn't really matter when you had your best buddy there along with you. It made stuff easier to handle. Then Barbie sat down and they both ate in silence. They didn't want to talk about the only topic that was possible to talk about today, Barbie leaving for the U.S. and Henry staying here another eight months.

"You take good care of that leg now!" Henry commanded Barbie.

"You bet I will!" he answered with a smile, "And when you come home, we'll go on a hiking trip! Take a few days to just relax in the outdoors…"

"Just like when we were kids then…?"

Barbie nodded his answer, "Just like that!"

"Just, ehm… just promise me one thing…"

"Whatever you say!" Barbie smiled, he hoped something good was coming.

"Let those hiking trips be less eventful than those we had when we were kids… I'm tired of helping you hobble out of forests because you broke your leg climbing a tree, or got bitten by a snake…"

"…or managed to cut a couple of veins with my knife trying to open a can of beans…" Barbie finished for him.

"Yeah… You know… The 'average' stuff like that…" Henry smiled back.

"Promise… Or, at least I'll try…"

That made Henry laugh, he basically knew that the request was to big. It was Barbie after all.

"I've gotta go now… Bye…"

"I'll see you at home then… Bye!" Henry said after they shared a short hug.

"Oh, and one thing you have to promise me;" Barbie yelled to Henry as he was about to enter the plane, "come home safe!"

"I'll do my best, or die trying!" Henry hollered back and gave him a thumbs up.

Barbie himself couldn't help but smiling at that comment, and decided to return the thumbs up.

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**I guess I will put him through more suffering in the next chapter. Just had to warm up the story first XD**

**Thanks again to those who has taken the time to read through this! **


	3. Meeting dad

**Well, I decided that the main reason Barbie had for enlisting was a quarrel he had had with his dad, that ended with him being kicked out of home, four years prior to his injury.**

**I also decided to 'make him a family'.**

**I hope you enjoy reading this!**

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He felt a bit out of place as he stood in front of his parents house in Lawrence, Kansas. He was definitely out of his comfort zone. And that meant a lot, he usually adapted very well to new things. In the war he had been almost too adapted…

Yet, right now... He could have sworn that he was just about to shit himself the moment before he extended his arm to knock on the door. The last time he had seen them was a couple of weeks before he left for Iraq. He and his dad hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms either…

The quarrel had been about Barbie's choices in life, and about him sometimes being on the wrong side of the law. Well, the right side didn't always have enough action for him…. His father's last words to him before he left was; Go! And unless you change your ways, don't ever come back!

The fight had started when he had been arrested for driving, way too fast, under influence. It had been the straw that broke the camel's back, Barbie guessed.

Now he stood there in front of the medium large house, whit the white picket fence around the yard. It looked like it always had, maybe except for a bike in the yard, or a tree-house that were no longer there. It was like they had erased all traces of him ever living there.

He was nervous, but he needed a place to stay, and at the moment he didn't have enough money for even a cheap ass motel room. He had done credit card frauds earlier, but he had tried his best to change over the four years. Since his dad had thrown him out…

He knocked on the door, and tried to make the knocking sound determined, but it came off just like he felt, uncertain. He was afraid of what greeting he might get. They probably didn't even know he was injured. He had listed his two brothers as his emergency contacts. And by the letters they had extended, talking about him wasn't accepted in the house, at least not when dad were home.

"Coming!" he could hear his dad's rough voice yelling from the kitchen or living room somewhere. Then he could hear heavy footsteps entering the hallway. Oh my God, he wished he could just run away and hide behind one of his mom's rose bushes.

He heard the lock turning and waited for the door to open up. Then he stood face to face with his old man.

His dad grabbed him by the collar and pushed him a little bit away, enough for Barbie to lose his balance.

"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay gone?" His dad managed to yell at him, before he realized that Barbie had fallen to the ground, was clutching his brace-covered leg, and was actually crying. That took Dale Sr. aback, he couldn't remember to ever having seen Barbie cry. And he had witnessed him getting a lot of injuries over the years. It didn't matter if it was a scrape, a cut or a broken bone… Barbie never cried, at least not in front of him.

The sight of his oldest son on the ground, visibly hurt, crying… Made Dale Sr. forget everything that he had ever thought Barbie had done wrong, and he threw himself to his knees beside his oldest.

"Son, are you hurt?" the worry in his voice was evident.

Barbie wanted to shake his head, wanted to brush this off like every other injury he'd had. He wanted to be invincible like he always acted, but he knew he wouldn't manage to get up off the ground without his father's help.

After the pain had subsided to a bearable amount, Barbie finally nodded.

"I'm sorry son… I didn't see…" his father was blaming himself for once…

"It's alright dad…" Barbie wiped his eyes for the tears that was still there. He hadn't expected his dad to take an 180⁰ turn like that. He had expected to be yelled at for hours to come…

"Are you ready to get up?" his father asked hunching beside him, "Or should I call an ambulance?" he added after casting another glance at his son's injured leg.

"No." Barbie swallowed, "No ambulance… Just give me a hand, would you?"

His leg felt like it was going to burst, but he knew that the fall hadn't made any additional damage. He would have felt that even more. He gripped his dad's extended hand, and pulled himself up, thankful of the supportive hand on his back.

"Let's get you in. You should probably keep that leg elevated…" Barbie could hear the concern in his dad's voice as he helped him up the stairs.

Elevated, yeah… He should, but that three-hour bus drive he had just finished hadn't offered that luxury.

"Thanks!" Barbie said once he was on top of the stairs at the small porch.

"So… What happened? Did you crash a motorcycle or something?" His dad asked as he placed a hot cup of coffee on the table by the chair Barbie sat in. It was first then that Barbie realized how small of an topic he had been around the dinner table, or how banned the topic was from conversation… He figured his dad didn't even know he had enlisted.

"After our fight…" Barbie began, "I spent a few weeks trying to get a job… Or just something legal, that brought money to the table…" He said before he took a sip of the scolding coffee.

"I tried a lot of different small jobs, cook, carpenter, mechanic…" he paused, " But there weren't enough action in either of those…"

He offered his dad a smirk.

"Yeah, I thought that might have been a problem for you…" His dad smiled back at him.

"Anyway… I then enlisted in the U.S. Army, and I've been with them since…" Barbie sighed.

His dad looked like he just swallowed a cow; he definitively didn't see that one coming.

When his dad didn't say anything Barbie decided that it would be best for him to keep on talking. "I took as many courses as I could, enough to make me one of the guys they depended on whenever we were out on missions… I served a couple of tours in different countries. On my fourth tour in Iraq, I got injured…" He decided the short version was more than enough at the moment. He didn't want to elaborate how bad the attack had felt. And he didn't want to tell about the flashbacks he started having straight away after the attack. His subconsciousness remembered all of it, and made sure to let him know about it just about every time he tried to sleep.

"Oh my God!" Dale Sr. sat in a chair opposite Barbie, he buried his face in his hands, and was on the verge of crying. He never wanted his kid to come in harms way like that! "I'm sorry, it's my fault!"

"No, dad. It isn't! It was my choice, and I bet I would have wound upon that path one way or another…"

After a few short hours of talking about everything that had happened since the last time they spoke a soft voice entered the house.

"Honey! I'm home!" it was his mother, Jenny, "have the boys called you about what they wanted for supper? I thought about Lasagna, what do y…"

She stopped mid-sentence when she entered the living room. Her face broke into a giant grin and she ran towards Barbie.

A low painful groan escaped his lips as she hugged him tight. The hug jolted his leg just the slightest, but he managed to bite back the worst of it. His mother still noticed and pulled back to check her son.

When she saw his leg, she gasped. Something had hurt her baby boy. The worst part was that it looked very painful too. It had to be… Barbie never complained about pain, he used to have control over such things as groans and whimpers, but not this time.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she cupped his chin. Worry lines protruded on her forehead.

Barbie didn't want to tell his mom that he had been at war. He knew how she would react.

"I wrecked my leg…" he tried and hoped she wouldn't dig too deep this time.

He could see that she wanted to ask more, but she accepted the answer and moved on.

"Do you want to stay with us? I can make up your bed!" she smiled at him. She had really missed him.

"That would be great!" Barbie smiled and looked over at his dad, whom also smiled. "Thanks!"

His mother bent down and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, before she sat off to make his room for him.

A little while later she was finished and back. She sat down on the couch and listened as her son and her husband talked about all and nothing. She really loved having her oldest son back in the house, even if he was hurt.

"Oh, look at the time!" Jenny Barbara suddenly said, "The twins and Mary should be home at any moment now! I should have started making supper half an hour ago!"

She stood up and looked at the two men in the room, before she focused her attention to Barbie.

"What do you want to eat, Ace?" She used different nicknames on the three boys. He was Ace (or Speedy, or Tiger), Jake was Sport, Wendell was Bear and Mary was her Princess!

"Lasagna sounds great, mom!" he grinned at her, it was almost too good to believe that he was at home again. And he got to eat his mom's 'famous' Lasagna!

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**Okay, first of all; THANKS! to those whom have read this far! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Want to let me know what you think of the story so far? **

**I always enjoy feedback!**


	4. I'm home!

**Okay, this will be a rather short chapter... **

**Enjoy!**

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A loud rumble sounded from the hallway as Jake, Wendell and Mary entered the house.

Barbie, Jenny and Dale Sr. had decided that they would surprise the three of them when they got home after football and cheerleading practice. So Jenny and Dale Sr. would just carry on as if everything was normal, then Barbie would just hobble into the kitchen when the supper was done.

"Bring your bags up to your rooms, and put your dirty clothes into the laundry bag in the bathroom!" their mom yelled from the kitchen.

"We will!" the three teenagers said in unison.

Barbie thought he was lucky none of them decided to take a look in the living room where he had just stood up, and was on his way to head over to the smaller bathroom.

His mother had set six plates in the center of the table, like she usually did. But the fact that there were six this time was commented on real quick.

"Uhm… I think you've counted wrong…" Jake said as he sat down by the table. He was the last one of the teenager's to take a seat. "there's six plates in that stack…"

Barbie chose that moment to come out of the shadows of the living room.

"That's because I'm here…" he said smiling at them.

There was first a half second where they all just looked shocked, but then they scrambled to their feet and set off in Barbie's direction.

"You're HOME!" the joyful cheers of his three siblings was like music to him, but he had to stop them before they literally threw themselves around his neck.

"Whoa! STOP!" he threw his hands up in front of him, and they stopped dead in their tracks.

"What…?" Mary asked confused, before she saw the crutches and the pain lines that was present in her oldest brother's face. "Are you HURT?" her voice was a mix between disbelief and shock.

Barbie took a hold of his crutches again and adjusted his balance before he answered her.

"Yeah… I screwed up…" he gave them a small smirk before he changed the topic, "But I still want those hugs!" he said as his face popped into a full grin!

After they had eaten supper, and Barbie had told the story of what happened (the very mild-version) for the third time that evening, they relaxed in the living room. They talked about the past four years, the years that they had been separated.

By the time the clock showed 10 p.m. Barbie was just about to pass out from exhaustion.

"I'm sorry!" he said yawning, "but I think I need to get some shut-eye…"

He shifted his position so that it would be easier for him to stand up, but his brothers were at their feet ready to help him get up by the time he was about to wrestle himself up off the recliner.

He gladly took the help offered, and smiled. This was what having a family was like, he had missed it.

"Do you need help up the stairs?" Jake asked looking him straight in the eyes.

"I don't think I _need_ help, but if you don't mind…"

"Of course we don't mind!" Wendell broke in, "we've missed you a lot the last four years you know!"

"Okay then…" Barbie smiled at his brothers standing in front of him.

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**So, what do you think?**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Question: Do you think I should do a flashback chapter, from the attack?**


	5. Flashback

**Flashback chapter! **

**I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, but I've been busy with Arrow fanfiction...!**

**I hope you've enjoyed reading this far! Thanks for the support!**

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Barbie was sitting on a beach-chair at one of the town's beaches. His siblings were playing volleyball further down the beach.

All though the people at the beach were happy and smiling, Barbie was trapped in a totally other place. Nobody noticed though…

LIGHTS FLASHING!  
THE ACRID SMELL OF GUNPOWDER CLINGING TO THE AIR!

The light reflecting from the lake and the sound the ball-game made was enough. He wasn't at the beach in Kansas any more…

The sound of gunfire suddenly rung through the air. Sharp ringing noises sounded off from bullets traveling at about 3000 feet per second.

"Get down!" Captain Anderson yelled to their team, at the same time as Barbie yelled for them to take cover.

Within seconds their team had hid behind every solid substance large enough to shield them from the bullets path.

"Hey! You!" Captain Jensen Anderson called after one of the lower ranking men, whom carried their radio, "Call up that we are taking fire! And that we will answer unless it's friendly fire!"

"Any one hurt?"

A few 'silent' seconds went by.

"No" the group sounded in unison.

Only a minute later Sergeant Kevin Carne threw some small rocks in Anderson and Barbie's direction.

He caught their attention, before he yelled "No friendlies in the area!"

_THE SMELL!_

The acrid smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Barbie could literarily taste it.

He re-loaded his rifle and got back into position. He could feel the air-waves from some of the bullets that was closest. They were uncomfortably close…

It frightened him that this was the eleventh time he was in a heated battle during his tours. He had had close calls, he had gotten graced by bullets before. He had seen men injured, killed by the unforgiving force the bullets had as they flew through the air.

Bullets pierced through the air around him as he tried to re-load his gun. He was scared!_ A man can only survive so many heated attacks! _Absolutely not the thought he wanted to have in his mind at the moment!

Machine gun fire sounded around them, and they were basically trapped. If they stayed they would either get killed, or run out of ammo and then killed. If they moved they could get killed moving, or they could make it.

They could consider themselves dead men walking…

They moved. They took turns on moving and shooting. Some of their guys jumped over the trunk of a nearby jeep.

Suddenly during one of the times Barbie was running between covers a brute force collided with his right leg, sending him crashing to the ground. He felt his knee twist, but there was no pain…

Not before his leg suddenly lit up like a million stars, burning as he had never felt it before! He tried to get up, but his leg just wouldn't take his orders the way he hoped it would.

He managed to crawl behind the Jeep that was standing a couple of yards ahead of him. His leg hurt so much it made his vision tunnel!

"Are you hurt?" Lieutenant Baker asked him once he reached the safety behind the truck.

Nodding his answer, Barbie turned around so he could sit against the Jeep's front wheel. When he looked down at his leg, a gruesome picture presented him. Red flesh was exposed, and he could see splinters of what had to be bone, protruding from the wound.

The look of it was nauseating. The blood dyed his pant leg crimson, and it still kept oozing out from the wound.

"Holy SHIT!" Lt. Baker exclaimed as he saw the grand wound that presented itself a little below Barbie's knee, before he in a very masculine way decided to faint by the look of it.

Knowing that he had to stop the bleeding, Barbie loosened his belt buckle and dragged his belt free. Ignoring the pain as best as he could, he tightened the belt around his thigh… When he had pulled it as tight as he possibly could, he cut a hole in the belt to buckle it in it's new place.

He bit back some bile before he yelled out to his team mates. "I need help over here!"

He was suddenly pulled out of his re-living of the nightmare when a volleyball hit his head.

Confused he looked around at his surroundings, seeing one of his brothers running towards him. A frightened look placed on his face.

"Are you all right?" Jake asked as he stopped beside him.

"Yeah, I'm good…" Barbie answered, still a little shaken…

"Why didn't you put your hands up to block it? We yelled your name…"

His brother's voice was worried, he clearly understood that something had been wrong. He just didn't know what…

"I…" Barbie trailed off as he looked for the right words, before settling for the easiest and most straight forward. "I had a flashback…"

He had tears in his eyes that threatened to escape, but he didn't care at the moment. Jake was a safe person… He could tell him anything without the fear of being teased about it, why then try to shut it in any longer…?

Squatting down beside his chair Jake repeated, "A flashback?"

"Yeah…"

"Anything I can do?" Jake's eyes contained sincere empathy, his voice was calm but worried.

Shaking his head Barbie bit his teeth together. "No, it's just something that happens every now and then…"

"You want me to stay here and keep you company then? Maybe some conversation would be good… We can talk about anything you want! Cars, chicks, sports… Or if you need to talk about what happened… I'm here for you!"

"You don't need to…"

"I know, but that's not the point! The point is, would you like me to…"

Giving a faint smile, Barbie looked over at his little brother before answering, "It would be nice."

"Okay!" Jake said before he stood back up again, "I'll just let them know I'm tiered…"

A mischievous grin fluttered across Jake's face before he grabbed the volleyball a few feet behind them and sped off in their siblings direction…

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**I hope you enjoyed this! **

**Once again; I'm sorry it took ages to post this chapter!**


	6. Shopping

**I'm sorry that I haven't written ANYTHING during this summer.  
But here comes another chapter, hope you guys like it!**

**Mary and Barbie's relationship...**

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Barbie was stretched out on the couch. It had been a long day already, and it wasn't even 5p.m. yet. It was Saturday and their mom had decided that it was high time he got some new clothes. Some without permanent oil-stains, or worn-out patches. Barbie agreed with her, when he thought about it he didn't own a single pair of jeans that still was in one piece.

Barbie had spent the whole day at the mall with his mom and Mary. It was nice, but hobbling along for more than an hour resulted in much pain. Much more than he already experienced.

"Here, try this one on!" Mary said and showed him a denim that was color faded where the jeans used to wear out first.

"Maybe a size or five larger? You know I kind of need to have room for this freaking brace beneath it?"

Mary suddenly got a god-damn-awful guilty look on her face, like if she had just said something very rude, and regretted it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Hey!" Barbie reached out to cup her face so that she would look at him while he spoke, "It is not your fault, it is my mistake. You are not supposed to feel bad for forgetting about 'technical difficulties' that I barely remember myself from time to time. Last but not least; Do NOT feel bad for me!"

He patted her shoulder, "Okay?"

Mary gave a short nod before she turned to find a pair that would fit around the brace.

"I love you, sis!"

Mary stopped short, and turned around with a tear in the corner of her eye, "I love you too, I'm glad you're at home!"

UtD

Six hours, three pair of Jeans, five t-shirts and two sweaters later, Barbie hobbled back towards their mom's truck. It was a 2011 modell, midnight blue, Chevy Silverado, 5 seats.

"I call the backseat!"

"Are you sure, Ace? Wouldn't it be better for you to take the front seat?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, I'll take the back seat… I can sit with my leg stretched out in front of me, if I sit sideways…"

"In that case, I call shotgun!" Mary smiled.

UtD

Back at home, Mary had helped him settle down on the couch, before she left for the kitchen. An hour later she came back with freshly baked apple pie.

"Thought you could use a little comfort food…" She said as she placed a plate with a big slice on the table beside Barbie. "What kind of movie do you want to watch? Comedy, Drama…?"

"Thank you!" Barbie smiled when he saw the pie, "Anything's fine, what do you want to watch?"

"Dear John, or The Lucky One, or the new Footloose…"

"Surprise me!"

"Dear John it is then!"

* * *

**Now what do you think?  
I was thinking about writing Wendell's relationship soon...  
Any ideas?**

**Should I go heavy on the hurt side? or should i do more comfort?**


	7. Blood brother

**Sooo... Here's another chapter.  
Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Barbie couldn't sleep any more, it was 4a.m. and he definitely could not sleep any more. His leg ached and he was seeing blood every time he closed his eyes.

'Flashback's a bitch' he thought to himself before he decided that laying around in his bed wouldn't help with the issue… He sat up and was about ready to pull himself to his feet when a car honked outside.

Barbie wouldn't have known what 'hit him', even if it was caught on tape. He was lying on the floor within a second, it was amazing that he could even move that fast. Reflexes was scary shit, especially while you kind of were still flashbacking…

Pain hit him. He groaned as he tried to get his nerves under control.

A couple of minutes later he felt like he would be able to get up again, he had gotten control over his shaking body once again.

Dripping with sweat he tried to turn over to his back. That much he managed, but his leg lit up like firework. Far from the worst he had ever felt, but still painful…

He took a short break once again, before he grabbed a hold of the side of his bed and the desk. His first attempt to lever himself up failed, and he 'fell' the four inches he had managed to hoist himself up. He bit back a cry of agony, before he made a second attempt.

This time he managed a little more, maybe twelve inches. That only made the 'fall' that much harder…

"FUCK!" Barbie only managed one word before lightning shot up his right leg, hurting enough to silence him… He was pretty sure it shouldn't feel like that at all, give it five minutes… If it still feels as bad, I'll find my phone and call for an ambulance I guess.

In the room next-door he could hear Wendell getting up, quick on his feet as ever. Before he knew it Wendell was standing a few feet in front of him.

"Are you Okay?"

Still unable to speak, Barbie shook his head no…

"Uhmm… Okay…" Wendell ran a hand through his hair, not sure what he should do, "Do you want to get up?"

Shake.

"Well, then… Should I go get Jake or dad?"

Shake.

"Mom, or Mary?"

Shake.

"Is it bad?"

Nod.

"Ambulance bad?"

Wait… Shake.

"Painkillers, should I find some painkillers?"

NOD!

"Okay, wait here."

Stupid glare…

"I'm stupid, right?"

Nod…

UtD

A minute or so later, Wendell re-enters the room with a bottle of pills, and a glass of water.

"How many?"

"I think I'll take two…"

"What do you usually take?"

Barbie shrugged, "I kind of just skip them… Unless I do something stupid… Like this…"

Wendell's jaw dropped a little, before he collected himself again. "How many are you supposed to take?"

"Either one and a half, or two… Depends on how bad I feel…"

Wendell nodded, "Why don't you take them regularly?"

"They make me drowsy… And lately I haven't done sleep as well as I probably should…"

"…Nightmares?"

Barbie let the silence answer that one.

"Want me to stay in here tonight?"

Whenever Wendell asked if they should spend time together, it was totally different from when Jake or Mary asked. When Mary asked, it was for comfort, apple pies, movies, hugs… You know…  
When Jake asked, it was mostly to keep things on the light side, of course… If there was a need to talk about unpleasant things, he was there too…  
When Wendell asked… It was because he wanted to understand, and help by understanding. He wanted to make everything better, but he knew that it often got worse before it got better… He didn't enjoy hearing about all that was wrong, painful or negative, but he knew that it might help him help others.

Wendell was his blood brother. He trusted him with his life, had done so more than a couple of times. And he would trust him like that without blinking, for the rest of his life. Wendell was the one of his three siblings that was most like him.

"I would appreciate that…" Barbie said looking at his lap.

Wendell nodded and took a seat beside Barbie on the floor. Then he just waited. Waited for Barbie to get ready to tell whatever he felt necessary.

UtD

"… and then everything went bright white." Barbie took another sip of the water, tears were rolling down his face. His voice was shaking and he felt so small, so young…

"Wow, that's just…" Wendell searched for his words, "I didn't know it was that... err… that much action… That much suffering, pain and angst"

"Well… it's only war you know…" Barbie said. He could hear that his little brother was on the verge of being lost for words. Which happened about once every decade…

"I'm sorry…" Wendell paused, "How do you feel?"

Barbie huffed a breath. "I feel like I'm floating around, in the middle of an ocean. Just trying to keep my head above water, for the 47th day in a row…"

"You're keeping count…"

"I can't help it… It's just…"

"Too much of a situation not to keep track of the days that has passed…?"

Barbie just nodded.

They spent a few minutes just listening to the absolute silence that entered the room…

UtD

"Hey help me up, would you?" Barbie asked stretching a hand out in front of himself, "I need to take a leak…"

"Yeah… sure…"

Wendell steadied his older brother as he finally came back upright. In the dim light from the lamppost outside, he could see how Barbie grimaced as he moved. The guilt hit him like a punch in the gut, his brother was supposed to be strong and healthy. Over the past 47 days he had lost what looked like 25 pounds…

Reality was more like 15-20 pounds… Barbie just looked so fragile…

"I'm sorry!" Wendell said as he heard his brother draw a ragged breath, "should I call that ambulance now?"

Barbie waited a second so that the room stopped spinning before he answered.

"No, I'm fine… Just the meds that's making me a little dizzy…" Barbie lied. Truth be told his leg was straight out painful. But it felt like it was still in 'one' piece… "I'm good"

"You know I know you're lying… But, I won't force you…"

"Great, we agree…" Barbie said and ruffled Wendell's hair, his lips drew tight as his leg burnt on… "Care to fetch my crutches for me?"

* * *

**I think I might skip forward a couple of weeks in the next chapter.  
To make Barbie more mobile...  
Do you think I should do that? or not?**


	8. Morning coffee

**Sooo... I wrote another one...**

**Hope you enjoy...**

* * *

5a.m.  
Barbie went downstairs. It was now two and a half month, (ten weeks, or 70 days) since he got injured. He had gradually gotten better. And was now able to sleep through most nights without waking up panting and dripping with sweat.

He leaned heavily on his crutches as he paused outside the kitchen. It occurred to him that everything suddenly felt so normal. It felt weird to him, to suddenly feel so safe, so welcome…

When you're recovering from mental trauma, time seems to just jump right past you… Without giving you a chance to catch up. Ten weeks seemed like a day or two right now.

It felt like a short time in the way that it rolled just past him. But he knew it was a long time. He knew that…

Dealing with the physical trauma was another issue… Time couldn't possibly go by fast enough!

UtD

He made his way over to the counter and started pouring water into the coffee machine. When he was done, he started the machine and grabbed hold of his crutches.

He turned around and looked down at his legs. He hadn't bothered with pants yet…

He almost smiled as he looked at all the old scars that he had sustained during his childhood. Then he saw the bright red skin that now covered where the bullet had entered and exited his leg… That made him cringe.

On the bright side of things, he had changed brace by now. He was done with the weird contraption that basically was what nightmares was made of, and was now fitted with a slimmer brace, that didn't dig into his skin, and bones.

This one was also more comfortable. It prevented him from moving his knee, but it was lighter and easier to hobble around with.

It was almost comically to see his legs beside each other. The left one was muscular and strong, it had a lot of old scars, white ones… His right leg was one-third the size of his left one. He wondered if there was any muscle left there at all. Probably not… It had about the same amount of old, white, scars. But it also had a couple of new ones that stood out like neon, bright angry red. Painful ones.

He decided it probably would be best if he put on some pants before the others woke up. 'Yeah, that would probably be a great idea'.

UtD

Five minutes later, he was back in the kitchen. By now the jug was ready, so he poured himself a cup and placed it on the table.

As he lowered himself onto his chair, he could hear his parents starting to get up. Up and at it, bright and early, as usual. It wasn't even 6 o'clock yet, but they were getting ready for another day…

He leaned forward and lifted his right leg up at the chair in front of him, to keep it elevated. Put his right arm over the back of his chair and relaxed. Then he took a sip of his almost scalding hot coffee… Just the way he liked it.

UtD

"Oh… It smells delicious here!" His mother commented as she walked into the room.

"Smells like the perfect morning!" his dad said as he followed in her heels.

Barbie smiled, he liked making other people feel good. And right now, this was his way of doing it.

"Coffee's in the pot…" he gave them a little mischievous grin, "but you'll have to pour it yourselves!"

He leaned back and rested against the wall, his right hand was still draped over the back of his chair.

"Thank you, Ace!" His mother said and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Dale, can you pour me one as well, while I go get the mail?"

His father nodded, and started the procedure as his mother walked out to the mailbox.

UtD

A minute later the ruckus started upstairs, it was the normal telltale sign that the younger generation of the Barbara family started to wake to life.

Jake was the first one to get down into the kitchen, the main reason for that could be that he skipped getting dressed properly before he went downstairs. He arrived in the opposite clothing of what Barbie had first entered the kitchen with.

"You really should get a new pair of PJ's," their mother said as she entered the kitchen with the mail.

"Don Barbara, Dale, it's for you…" she said and handed the letter to Dale Sr. "I still don't get why you always use that as your name…"

Dale Sr. smiled at his wife, "because it sounds more business like…" he took a sip of his coffee, "and with what I do, appearance is more than 70 percent… What you accomplish is about 10 percent, who you know and who knows you… 20 percent…"

"Yeah… but still…" she let out a sigh, "Do you really need to…?"

"In fact, I do… And you would k…"

"I would know if I knew what exactly you did…"

Dale Sr. gave a firm nod. "Just be happy you don't."

Silence settled in the kitchen as soon as his father stopped speaking. For Barbie it had always been an issue not knowing what his dad did. But he knew by know that 'I'd have to kill you if I told you' were real... He had been the one to say that a couple of times by now.

* * *

**I felt like I had to do something about Barbie's fathers name... Due to the latest episode I saw... **

**Aaaand I decided to make him a little more secretive... **

**This chapter didn't come out as either heavy on the hurt, or comfort... It just kind of wound up as a middle chapter... Hmmm...**

**What do you think about my choises?**


	9. Bar trip, part 1

**So... **

**Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Out of nowhere a buzzing sound occurred. Barbie realized that he had fallen asleep on the couch, for the fourth time this week.

He used a few seconds to remember where his phone was, and another few seconds to reach it.

"Hello?" He answered groggily.

"Barbie! Hey man! I heard you were back!" a voice greeted him, "care to go out tonight and drink a few?"

"Oh, hey Alex!" Alexander Olsson, one of his old pals… "I've been back for a couple of months now… Yeah sure, a beer or two would probably do me good! What time is it?"

"Great!" Alex was as excited as usual, "It's five past eight now, pick you up around nine?"

"Sure, I've got to take a shower though… Just walk straight in if I don't answer. Okey?"

"Yeah, man! Super!"

UtD

"Are you ready soon?!" Alex hollered from the living room as he entered it.

"Give me five minutes! I just got to get dressed!" Barbie hollered back. He was done showering and tried to work some jeans over his brace…

When he realized that they wouldn't fit like this, he took them off, and started unbuckling his brace. The new brace had the benefit that he could take it off, and wear it either over or hidden under his clothes.

He carefully pulled his pants on, and secured his brace again over his jeans. He opened the second drawer beside his bed, and picked out one of his new t-shirts and a hoodie.

Once he was dressed again, he took a hold of his crutches again and started making his way down into the living room.

He found Alex in the living room, reading an old car magazine.

He looked up at the sound of the crutches. As he saw Barbie struggling down the staircase with his crutches and a brace around his right leg, Alex's jaw dropped.

"HOLY COW! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" Alex basically yelled when he saw his old buddy.

"Had a slight disagreement with a bullet…" Barbie answered dryly, "and then with the ground…"

"That's why you're back?" Alex answered in disbelief, "I thought you just were off-duty!"

"Yeah, No…" Barbie said as he adjusted his grip on the crutches, "Honorable discharge…"

He shrugged, as if to play it off as no big deal. "I can re-enlist when I get back on my feet… I think I will…"

"Mmmm Okay... Good, I guess…"

Barbie felt the tension of the conversation tighten even more, and decided it was high time to change the subject.

"So… Where are we off to?!" he asked and gave it his best grin.

UtD

The bar was crowded, but they managed to get a good place to sit. Probably because of Barbie's crutches.

"You want something to drink?!" Alex shouted over the country/rock music that played over the speakers.

"Yeah! A beer!"

Alex gave him thumbs up, "Try not to get in a fight with anybody then!"

"I don't think I want to fight tonight!" Barbie answered with a huge grin on his face. It felt great being out with a buddy again.

A few minutes later, Alex returned with a tray containing four beers and some shots. The smile he had on his face was close to epic, and behind him was one of their other buddies, Thomas, and a girl.

Barbie first thought that Alex had had a lucky strike with a pickup line. It happened sometimes…

"Stella, this is Barbie, errr… Dale! Barbie, this is Stella!" Alex introduced them clumsily.

"Nice to meet you!" Stella said as she reached out a hand for Barbie to shake.

Barbie sat a little straighter before he took the hand, "Likewise!"

They held each others gaze for a second or two before Stella sat down beside Barbie, near the corner of the couch.

Barbie had picked the corner, so that he could sit with his leg stretched out in front of him on the couch. A chair or a stool did almost the same, but when you sat like this on a couch, you had support under the whole span of your leg. It was a bit more comfortable.

Stella's brown eyes travelled down Barbie's body, until she saw the brace outside his denims.

"How did you hurt your leg?" her brown eyes met his blue ones.

"It's a long story…" Barbie lied, the short version was less than a sentence…

"Okay…" she ran a hand through her curly black hair. "I've got time, if you care to share…"

Barbie offered a smile, he usually didn't feel like telling the story. But right now, with her… It somehow felt like the right thing to do.

"There are two different reasons to why I have that brace on, and why I've been on crutches for almost three months…" Barbie said. He wasn't totally sure whether he should tell everything or not.

"I serviced over in Iraq..." He paused and looked at Stella, taking in her reaction.

"You don't have to tell, if you don't want to…" She looked at him, regret and compassion in her eyes.

"No, it's fine… Just tell me to stop if you don't want to hear anymore…"

"Okay…"

"My team and I got attacked, we had to move out. It was either that or get killed when we ran out of ammo… We ran between anything that was large enough to take cover behind…"

Barbie took a sip of his beer, had he missed the taste! You bet!

Stella slipped her hand around Barbie's left hand, in an attempt to comfort him. Or herself…

"I still don't know what happened first, whether it was that my knee gave out completely, or that a bullet hit my leg. I guess it was the bullet… Next thing I knew was that I was lying on the ground, still within the range of the bullets, and my right leg felt like it had been torn straight off."

He tried to smile, but it didn't go exactly as planned…

"Somehow I managed to crawl the last couple of yards to the next safe place. I hid behind a Jeep with one of the other men. I got to see my leg, the khaki was soaked with blood, my knee was in an odd angle… The guy beside me fainted… I called the others for help, and we got lucky… Bosses decided to send choppers for us earlier than expected… I remember taking off in a chopper, next thing I know is waking up in some kind of M.A.S.H. unit."

"I'm sorry…"

"For what? It was my choice being there… I enlisted! And I probably will do so again once I'm healed…" he gave her a wink. Pure reflexes…

She smiled back, her lips looked so damn kissable.

* * *

**I will do my best to make next chapter a cozy one...  
*facepalm*  
It is really hard...**


	10. Bar trip, part 2

**Well, this just keeps happening when I sit down in front of my computer...  
I really should try to get a life I guess... But...**  
**This is too stimulating! **

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

A few hours later, Barbie and Stella were left alone at the couch. Alex and Thomas had both found a girl to try to hit on during this late night out… Needless to say that they mostly spent the night on the dance floor. Under normal circumstances, Barbie would have been right there beside them. Checking up any long-legged beauty that seemed willing.

But tonight that was impossible, it was hard enough to move from the couch to the toilet and back. He wouldn't even dare to think about dancing.

Stella leaned in close to him and gripped his hand. She let her fingers trace the back of his hand of his hand, before she turned it over and released his hand leaving his palm up. She then stroked his palm with her index finger, she paused every time she passed the calloused parts of his hands.

"You have good hands…" she then said as she looked back up to his eyes.

"Thank you… I guess…" Barbie was a little taken aback by the sudden compliment, he felt it was a weird thing to tell someone. He looked down at her hands, finding two delicate, feminine hands. "You have quite pretty hands yourself!"

She smiled before she hid her face by his shoulder. "Thank you! I'm sorry, I tend to just speak my mind when I'm drunk!"

Barbie smiled, he already liked Stella a whole lot. "I don't mind, I think it's kind of cute!"

Stella looked back up. Her dark caramel skin tone almost hid the fact that she blushed. She looked up at him and licked her lower lip.

Barbie leaned a bit closer, a wordless request to kiss her. She stood her ground, even leaned a bit closer. Her expression saying something like; _Yes, kiss me…_ _Kiss me now!_

Barbie leaned even closer, put one hand behind her neck, and kissed her softly. Stella answered his action by cupping his face in her hands. It felt so good, it felt so right!

Barbie felt how his blood rushed through his body, he was hot with emotions he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

They pulled apart and looked at each other.

"You know, if I could… I would dance with you until they turned off the lights in this bar!"

"Oh yeah…?" she said, and planted a quick kiss on Barbie's cheek, "What else would you do…?"

Barbie couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something in her eyes made him think that if he'd been able to, you know. They would already have left this bar and headed straight for a motel room.

"I would enjoy taking you out to the lake, build up a bonfire, go skinny dipping while the water's still warm enough… Watch the stars from the bed of my truck…" he winked at her at the end.

"Only that?..."

"Probably a whole lot more… If I could…" he laughed, "If you would join in, maybe we'd test the suspension of my truck!"

Stella laughed too, "I would love that!"

Then they leaned back in and kissed each other again.

UtD

3a.m. the bar closed, and it was time to find another place to stay. It was still a couple of hours until they expected to end the party.

With a little help from Alex and Thomas, Barbie managed to get up and get his crutches. He would never have believed that four beers and five shots would hit him that hard. Medication had nothing to do with it, he hadn't taken any pills the last week anyhow. It might have been a combination of pain and a long time since the last time he even touched alcohol.

"You need any help?" the bartender asked as he saw Barbie struggling to keep his balance with the crutches.

"I think that would be a good idea."

"Have you taken any painkillers tonight?" the man asked with a worried expression.

"No, not the last week or so…"

"Good! That's"

"Dangerous, I know…" Barbie said before the man managed to complete his sentence. "I just haven't been drinking the last three months or so, due to my leg. And I was in Iraq about six months before that…"

"Oh… Well, okay, let's get you to your designated driver!"

"Great idea! Man, Great idea!" Barbie agreed as he a little drunkenly took a step with his crutches, swayed a bit, and regained his balance.

* * *

**Yeah...  
Any thoughts?**

**Should I do a 'morning after' chapter...?**


End file.
